It is generally believed that Columbus was the first European
to discover America back in 1492. But was it really discovered by a Welsh
prince from Dolwyddelan in the Lledr valley as early as 1170?

It is said that in 1170 Welsh
prince Madog ab Owain Gwynedd sailed from Wales in search of new lands and
reached America. He then returned to Wales to tell his fellow countrymen of the
great wonders that he had found. Many were intrigued by his stories and
returned with him to America.

They are believed to have
landed at Mobile Bay, Alabama and then travelled up the Alabama river along
which there are several forts said by the local Cherokee Indians to have been
constructed by "White People". These structures have been dated to
several hundred years before Columbus and are of a similar design to
Dolwyddelan Castle. Were they built by Madog and his fellow settlers?

Dolwyddelan Castle
- Castell Dolwyddelan

An Indian tribe was
discovered in the 18th century that seemed different to all the others that had
been encountered before. Called the Mandans this tribe were described as white
men with forts, towns and permanent villages laid out in streets and squares.
They claimed ancestry with the Welsh and spoke a language remarkably similar to
it. Were these people the descendants of Madog's settlers?

Unfortunately the tribe was
wiped out by a smallpox epidemic introduced by traders in 1837, but they can
lay claim to being the only Indian tribe never to have been at war with the
United States. A memorial tablet has been erected at Port Morgan, Mobile Bay,
Alabama which reads:

"In memory of Prince
Madog, a Welsh explorer, who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and
left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language."